Who is afraid of Synthetic Biology?

The mission – Conveying the message to the whole community

“Synthetic Biology” sounds like a very distant and complex field as well as being a fascinating field. This is the reason we decided to spread the team’s topic to as many people as possible who come from different backgrounds and ages. Kiryat Shemona is a small town bordering Lebanon and Syria. Surrounding the town are various types of settlements – Jewish settlements, Arab settlements, Kibbutzes ( a type of communal village) and more...

We decided to approach everyone; we went to Arab villages, kindergartens, old age homes, center for the blind and the cream of the crop – a respectable conference held at our high school. The topic of the conference: Synthetic Biology.

iGEM teams are leading in the area of Human Practices because they conduct their projects within a social/environmental context, to better understand issues that might influence the design and use of their technologies.

Teams work with students and advisors from the humanities and social sciences to explore topics concerning ethical, legal, social, economic, safety or security issues related to their work. Consideration of these Human Practices is crucial for building safe and sustainable projects that serve the public interest.

For more information, please see the Human Practices Hub.